Mini Sidebar

TAG: Lauri Stevens

It’s the kind of lawsuit that’s been anticipated and predicted by many, especially within law enforcement.

Earlier this week, the Honolulu Police Department was named in a complaint over deleted Facebook posts. According to the Associated Press, the deleted posts were made by members of a gun group and the lawsuit indicates the deletions on the part of HPD were “arbitrary.”

Legal experts seem to agree that it boils down to whether the Facebook page is truly a public forum.

William Lasser, a professor of political science and a first amendment scholar at Clemson University, explained that the roots of the definition of public forums go back to the 1930s, when courts defined public forum in terms of it being a physical or literal space. But the definition, he said, has been expanded in the decades since.

“You could endlessly complicate this,” he said and explained that the definition of public forum is generally a government-controlled space, but there are exceptions to that. He said, for example, prisons and military bases are not public forums.

The definition can also include spaces not generally open as public forums that the government has declared to be public forums. It can also include a space which would not otherwise be a public forum, but is being used as a public forum and has gone unchecked by government and becomes public forum by default.

If the page is determined not to be a public forum, Lasser said, “the government can pretty much regulate speech there for any rational purpose.”

The legal issue, he said, is “whether through action or inaction the police department has welcomed robust public debate on issues. If they have, it becomes a public forum, but that’s not to say that even in that case they can never restrict speech. It’s just that they would need a compelling governmental interest.”

The question of whether there’s a compelling government interest was also pinpointed by Rick Joyce, a Washington, D.C., based attorney and chair of the communications group at Venable, LLP.

“The problem I think they might have is whether someone did made a decision based upon what was said,” Joyce said, “and if so, did the police department have legitimate government interest to remove it?”

The fact that a police department posts a takedown policy could help its case.

Lasser likened it to a bulletin board where you can post a notice, but have to get approval first.

“You can’t have it both ways though, and posting a takedown policy doesn’t by itself immunize oneself from the public forum doctrine,” Lasser said. “Time, place and manner restrictions on speech are permissible but the dividing line between time, place and manner can’t be based on content.”

The constitutionality of such a takedown policy is key, Joyce said. Any policy that allows someone to “pick and choose” to delete content could be problematic.

“They ought to have a department attorney take a look to see if in broadest terms that takedown policy conforms with relevant first amendment precedents,” Joyce said. “The first amendment may not be established in the cloud or in new media, but the question as to whether there’s a government interest at stake is pretty well establish.”

Issues such as this one have stifled some police departments’ willingness to use Facebook. The case is thought to be the first of its kind to begin to answer these tough questions as to how a police department, or any government organization, can use a social network to provide for open dialog and how far it can go to limit or otherwise affect that dialog.

If a community page exists for your department, here’s how you can claim it

It’s possible your police department has a page on Facebook that no one associated with the department created. I’m not referring to pages created by impersonators. That’s a different Quick Tip.

However, sometimes pages are created by Facebook when someone selects an associated interest or when someone checks in to a location. Those pages are called Community Pages, and they’re accompanied by a briefcase or a geo-location pin as an icon.

If such a page exists for your police department, you can claim it. First you must convince Facebook that you’re the official representative and become the admin. Then you can merge it with your real page.

Here’s how:

In the upper right corner of the page, click on the round asterisk-looking pull-down menu.

Select Is this your business?

Fill in the information and click Continue.

You will then have to choose a method to verify you can claim the page.

Once Facebook reviews your request and accepts it, you’ll be made the administrator of the page. You can then merge it with your current page.

To merge two pages they must have similar names and the same address. Go to the page with the most Likes.

Click Edit Page

Then Update Info

Then Resources

If you have two pages that qualify to be merged, you will see a link offering you to Merge duplicate pages.

When completed, the Likes and Check in From the page with the fewest Likes will be incorporated into the page with most Likes. Everything else on the old Community Page will go away.

LAwS Communications announced finalists in the ConnectedCOPS™ Awards, a new awards program for law enforcement using social media. The ConnectedCOPS Awards were created with the intent of recognizing the great work being done with social media in six categories, by individual sworn officers and law enforcement agencies. Winners will be announced at The SMILE Conference™ in Richmond, Va. on September 10, 2012.

“The ConnectedCOPS Awards are setting the bar for law enforcement agencies and officers,” said Lauri Stevens of LAwS Communications. “Until now they had nothing to gauge their work against. Now they will have examples of excellent work to strive to equal or improve upon.”

Joseph Porcelli, the director of engagement services for GovDelivery and GovLoop said, “LAwS Communications through the ConnectedCOPS Awards has filled the needed gap to recognize the contributions made by law enforcement organizations and individuals, which up until now have not received the credit they deserve.”

The first annual ConnectedCOPS Awards will be presented at the sixth Social Media the Internet and Law Enforcement (SMILE) Conference on September 10-12, 2012 in Richmond, Va. Winners in the above six categories will be honored and their achievement recognized. The SMILE Conference brings together one of the largest assemblages of law enforcement professionals from around the world to address the topics of social media strategy, reputation management, policy and other issues pertaining to community outreach. The three-day event will also emphasize information sharing and homeland security.

The sixth SMILE Conference is hosted by the Richmond Police Department. There will be a Town Hall meeting on Tuesday, September 11, to further explore and discuss issues concerning social media and law enforcement that could not be fully addressed during the plenary session. For more information please visit http://www.TheSMILEConference.com.

For award criteria, rules and judging information see http://www.ConnectedCOPS.net/ConnectedCOPSAwards.

About LAwS Communications

LAwS Communications has been providing interactive media advice to law enforcement since 2005. Open Source communication technologies available today allow organizations to efficiently gather and distribute information like never before. LAwS Communications works with law enforcement professionals to help make sense of the tools available, help agencies craft a plan and social media policy as well as provide the training needed. LAwS Communications can help law enforcement organizations not only understand why an agency should take advantage of social media technologies, but also how to leverage these vast resources. LAwS Communications is located in Newbury, Massachusetts. It is a subsidiary of Stevens & Associates Inc.

The ConnectedCOPS Leadership Award finalists have been determined. Approximately two dozen nominations for 21 officers from three countries were received for this award. The finalists in this category are pioneers, have demonstrated exemplary leadership and have mentored their peers.

Dale Stockton is a Senior Editor at Law Officer magazine, and one of seven judges for this category. “Leadership is so incredibly important in public safety, especially when you’re entering a relatively new area like social media,” he said, and added “It is really encouraging to see so many powerful examples of individuals who have stepped up and are leading the way for others.”

ConnectedCOPS Leadership Award

This award is given to the individual officer up to and including the rank of Sergeant (or its international equivalent) at any worldwide law enforcement agency who has singularly demonstrated exemplary and selfless leadership in the use of social media to improve public safety and/or enhance his or her agency’s community engagement and reputation. This individual is creative, innovative and fearless and shares what s/he knows by mentoring others, participating in public speaking opportunities and leading by example.

Because there were so many great leaders nominated in this category, the judges selected five finalists. They are listed below in no significant order:

Special Constable Tom Stirling, North Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Special Constable Tom Stirling worked diligently to bring the North Yorkshire Police Service into digital communications on his own time by designing a mobile application. He then taught himself how to program the app resulting in “NYP mobile”, the first mobile app in policing in England, all at no cost to his department. His work has earned him the “Outstanding Police Communicator” Award from the Association of Police Communicators and has been emulated by other departments.

Police Constable Ed Rogerson, North Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Police Constable Ed Rogerson is regarded as possibly the first officer in the UK to use social media for community engagement. Rogerson is nationally and internationally known for his use of social media and is often cited as an example of best practice. He regularly speaks at professional events about his use of social media in policing. His work has gained him near celebrity status among youth in the UK as they recognize him from Twitter and YouTube.

Constable Scott Mills, Toronto Police Service, Canada
Constable Mills is highly regarded as a global leader in police adoption of social media. One of his foremost qualities is that he works in service of others, in relentless pursuit to improve public safety and support others to do the same. Mills is the quintessential pioneer and has put in countless hours, he has endured much criticism from those who don’t or won’t understand, and yet he persists. Through his sincere and consistent approach, Mills has even gained support and a considerable following from unlikely groups, including gang members and activists.

Sergeant Rob Sutten, Portsmouth City Central Police, United Kingdom
Sergeant Sutten has been the leader and champion at the Hampshire Constabulary in the UK for his groundbreaking local use of Twitter. He is said to be innovate, charismatic and jovial. With his media department, he developed a fictional character called “Ninah” to develop crime prevention messages for children and incorporated humor and games. Ninah also tweets real-time updates about committed offenses, the thrill of her chase, as well as the arrest and result of conviction.

Sergeant Jay Turner, Hamilton Police Service, Canada
Sergeant Turner has taken Twitter use to a new level and is widely regarded as innovative and humorous. Because of the strength of his messaging on Twitter, he has significantly improved the public communication from HPS to citizens. Sergeant Turner mentors others at HPS, having personally developed five of the agency’s seven accounts, overcoming reluctance from his colleagues and supervisors.

This is the final awards category to be announced this week. Finalists in the other awards categories were announced earlier in the week on this blog and can be found at the links provided below. Winners will be announced September 10th at The SMILE Conference™ in Richmond, Virginia.

The ConnectedCOPS Awards were created by LAwS Communications with the intent of recognizing the good work being done by individual officers and law enforcement agencies with social media. The international law enforcement community will be considered for these awards. Any officer or agency anywhere in the world is eligible.

The ConnectedCOPS Top Cop finalists have been determined. A dozen of the planet’s top police executives in five countries were nominated for this award. The finalists in this category have demonstrated exemplary leadership and have mentored their peers.

Joe Porcelli is Director of Engagement Services for GovDelivery and GovLoop and was one of seven judges in this category. “Judging this award has been an inspiring experience,” he said, and added “I strongly encourage everyone to appreciate the drive, innovation and persistence they each have demonstrated in service to their fellow citizens.”

ConnectedCOPS Top Cop

This award is given to the sworn law enforcement executive of the rank of LT (or its international equivalent) and up, at any worldwide law enforcement agency who has demonstrated significant and sustained executive leadership to further the use of social media and Internet technologies in law enforcement. This individual is a risk-taker and a pioneer in his or her promotion and use of social media in policing. The recipient of the Top Cop Award also gives his thought leadership and expertise freely to others.

We have four finalists and they are (in no order of significance):

Deputy Chief Peter Sloly, Toronto Police
Because he was so quick to see the benefits of implementing social media into police operations, Deputy Chief Sloly was among the earliest of adopters of open source technology into law enforcement. Some of the first professional police gatherings to address the topic had, and continue to have, Deputy Sloly as their main speaker. He continues to share this enthusiasm and leadership expertise widely to an international audience. He is said to “walk the talk” and has lead the Toronto Police Service to be considered among the best in the world with social media. He leads up and down to create an atmosphere of openness, and encourages all to participate in a Service of 8,000 members.

Deputy Chief Constable Gordon Scobbie, Tayside Police & ACPO
In addition to his duties as DCC in Tayside, Gordon Scobbie serves as the ACPO appointed Social Media Lead for Police for all of the United Kingdom. DCC Scobbie daily gives of his time and wisdom to help his colleagues learn to also lead with open source technologies and to embrace “what they don’t know” in order to better embrace input. Scobbie has traveled internationally to speak to his peers at several major law enforcement conferences and has successfully convinced many of his colleagues to take the risks necessary to gain the many benefits of social media. He is one of few voices to stress engagement over all else in order to also realize the full potential of social media in policing.

Chief Constable Stuart Hyde, Cumbria Police
CC Hyde has lead the Cumbria Constabulary’s social media program to be among the finest in the UK. Chief Hyde is the President of the Society for the Policing of Cyberspace, Vice-President of the High Tech Crime Consortium and was instrumental in the creation of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP). CC Hyde gives regularly of his time to support charities including the Blue Lamp Foundation, Marie Collins Foundation and regularly jumps into very cold water to support Comic Relief and Sport Relief.

Inspector Henk van der Linden, Rotterdam Police
Inspector van der Linden is a strong force in the strategic use of social media in policing in the Netherlands. As a project manager for the Rotterdam Police, he is an innovative and inspired leader and from that he was a leader in the adoption of social media by the Dutch Police. He is the co-founder of the “9 domains of social media”, a program being used as a guideline for the use of social media in law enforcement for the Dutch police and internationally. Because of his incredible work, the Dutch police are considered a European front runner in social media and policing.

Finalists in the other awards categories will be announced throughout this week on this blog. Check back to see the finalists for the Leadership Award tomorrow. Winners will be announced September 10th at The SMILE Conference™ in Richmond, Virginia.

The ConnectedCOPS Awards were created by LAwS Communications with the intent of recognizing the good work being done by individual officers and law enforcement agencies with social media. The international law enforcement community will be considered for these awards. Any officer or agency anywhere in the world is eligible.

Disclaimer: DCC Gordon Scobbie also served as a judge on these awards. He did not judge, nor did he have access to nominee information for, this category.

About ConnectedCOPS

The vision behind ConnectedCOPS is to enhance law officers’ ability to succeed with social media tools by providing insight, encouragement, education and the overall support required. It is also to promote the insightful thoughts of the law enforcement social media visionaries by providing them a voice on this blog.